Established in 2006, the Keystone State Education Coalition is a growing grass roots, non-partisan public education advocacy group of several hundred locally elected, volunteer school board members and administrators from school districts throughout Pennsylvania. Our mission is to evaluate, discuss and inform our boards, district constituents and legislators on legislative issues of common interest and to facilitate active engagement in public education advocacy.

In
PA HD 163 Bonner Concedes to Micozzie; 3 races have yet to be called

Politico Written by Keegan
Gibson, Managing Editor November 8, 2012

And then there were 3.
Democrat Seamus Bonner conceded his challenge to Rep. Nick Micozzie, the
Delaware County Republican said Thursday.

Just 3
races have yet to be called. Rep. Rick Saccone (R-Allegheny) narrowly leads
David Levdansky the 39th district (by 30-50 votes or so), with provisional
ballots still outstanding. Rep. Justin Simmons (R-Lehigh) is ahead in his
re-election battle with Dem Kevin Deely. And Rep. Tom Quigley (R-Montgomery) is
awaiting final confirmation of the numbers but is apparently headed for a loss
to Dem challenger Mark Painter.

The
Educational Improvement Tax Credit is promoted as a way to provide a better
education for poor children, but public education advocates say it actually
takes away tax money that could be used to improve schools.

Obama has a cliff to avoid, Cabinet to pick

Pocono Record ByDAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent
November 08,
2012

WASHINGTON — One day
after a bruising, mixed-verdict election, President Barack Obama and Republican
House Speaker John Boehner both pledged Wednesday to seek a compromise to avert
looming spending cuts and tax increases that threaten to plunge the economy
back into recession.

Sequestration: School
boards can help NSBA lobby to avoid fiscal cliff

NSBA’s Board Buzz by
Joetta Sack-Min|November 7th, 2012

Political pundits are
already warning President Barack Obama and members of Congress not to spend too
much time basking in their Nov. 6 victories. Beginning next week, Congress and
the White House will start the tough negotiations to deal with theprocess of sequestration, which is the cancellation of
budgetary resources.

“Accordingto the Tyler
Morning Telegraph, 71 percent of Texas’ more than 1,200
school districts missed AYP for 2011-12 — up from 49 percent the year
before. ….Why did Texas school districts wait until now to do
this? Because, McCraw said, what had been objectionable before became
“intolerable” when so many districts were rated as failing.”

Texas school districts seek to overturn annual NCLB
ratings

Texas school districts
is asking state education officials to set aside all of the Adequate Yearly
Progress ratings that they have been given under the No Child Left Behind law
since the program started a decade ago.

According to the Star
Telegram, the Austin-based Texas Association of Community Schools organized
the case that was just filed against the Texas Education Agency with the State
Office of Administrative Hearings. It argues that the federal government
doesn’t have the authority to mandate an accountability system for public
schools and the education agency shouldn’t have implemented the federally
mandated Adequate Yearly Progress school rating system.

In Obama's Second Term
It's Time to Think Big on Education

The Century Foundation
by Richard Kahlenberg Nov 7, 2012

Barack Obama’s re-election—made
possible by a strong African American, Latino, and female vote—liberates the
president to return to the central questions of equal opportunity that first
motivated him to seek public office. According toDavid Maraniss’s biographyof Obama, the future president was
inspired to apply to HarvardLawSchool
and enter public life after he heard a presentation by William Julius Wilson on
the effects of de-industrialization and isolation on low-income urban blacks.
As Wilson (a longtime Century Foundation trustee) observed inThe Truly Disadvantageda quarter-century ago, the Civil
Rights Act freed middle-class black Americans to move out of racially
segregated ghettos, an enormous advance in human dignity, but this development
also left poor blacks in concentrated poverty that was worse than ever before.

Obama’s election to a
second term allows him to think big about the providing better opportunities
to truly disadvantaged children. If the economy continues to grow in the
second term,as many are predicting,
the president can move beyond rear-guard efforts to avoid an economic
depression. Under these circumstances, Americans will be in a more generous and
large-spirited frame of mind to tackle difficult issues.

My
View: An open letter to George Lucas - We need your independent vision

Editor’s
note:Anthony
Codyworked in schools in Oakland, California,
for 24 years. He taught middle school science 18 of those years. He lives in Mendocino County, California,
and leads workshops for teachers. He writes theLiving in Dialogue blog, and you can follow him
on Twitter,@AnthonyCody.

Dear Mr.
Lucas,

I have
recently read of the $4 billion that you will receive for selling your movie
empire to Disney, andyour plans to give most of this money to
support education. This is wonderful news. I deeply appreciate this
generosity. I am writing a letter to encourage you to think outside the box as
you decide how to spend these funds. It is critical to consider where educators
find ourselves in 2012.

Deadline December 5, 2012
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program is now accepting
applications for the 2013-2014 Fellowship Year. The Einstein Fellowship Program
is available to current K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) educators with a demonstrated excellence in teaching and leadership.
Selected teachers spend 11 months in Washington,
D.C., sharing their expertise
with STEM program directors or policy makers. Einstein Fellows may serve in a
Congressional office or in one of several government agencies such as the
Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), or the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA). Fellows receive a monthly stipend and an
allowance for professional travel and relocation. The fellowship year begins in
late August 2013.

For more information
about the program and to learn how to apply, visitwww.einsteinfellows.org. Applications for the 2013-14 Fellowship program are due
by 11:00 pm (EST) December 5, 2012.

There's still time to register for the Pittsburgh school library
briefing on November 15th!

Join the EducationLawCenter, the Health Sciences Library
Consortium, and the PA School Librarians Association for the release of
findings of the Pennsylvania
school library impact study on student achievement, and learn about the
investments in school library programs needed to prepare 21st-century learners:

Why Investing in Early Education Matters, Even in These Difficult
Economic Times - "Erie Region Breakfast
Series"Monday, November
19, 2012

Continental Breakfast
- 8:00 a.m. Program - 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

AmbassadorCenter
(I-90 & Peach Streets in Erie, next to
the Courtyard by Marriott)
Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children
and The Education Policy and LeadershipCenter

Share school
district successes and challenges in supporting quality learning experiences.
Hear from local school districts and early learning providers about how
they have worked together to maintain early learning as an integral part of the
school districts' overall goals. Learn how quality early learning can
contribute positively to a community's economic success.

1 comment:

I really like that my children have the opportunity to go to a private school. I went to a private school fo most of my education, and I would have it no other way. Thanks for sharing all of these things with us.

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About Me

Mark Twain: "God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board."
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School Director, School District of Haverford Township, since 1999;
Chairman, Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council;
Founder and Co-Chair, Southeastern Pennsylvania School Districts’ Education Coalition/Keystone State Education Coalition, Board of Directors, PA School Boards Assocation
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If you have any feedback or links to articles that might be a good fit on this blog please email me at lawrenceafeinberg@gmail.com
Thanks!